State asked to add yellow-legged frog to endangered listing

Thursday

Jan 28, 2010 at 12:01 AM

SAN ANDREAS - An environmental group announced Monday it is petitioning to have all populations of the mountain yellow-legged frog listed as endangered under state law, a move that could trigger further declines in non-native trout species popular with anglers.

Dana M. Nichols

SAN ANDREAS - An environmental group announced Monday it is petitioning to have all populations of the mountain yellow-legged frog listed as endangered under state law, a move that could trigger further declines in non-native trout species popular with anglers.

Brook trout and other species planted in high Sierra lakes since the 1890s eat frog tadpoles.

The Center for Biological Diversity says it wants the California Fish and Game Commission to make permanent a temporary ban on trout stocking in high-altitude lakes and to "remove trout in key frog habitats."

And the center is asking state game officials - who oversee recreational fish stocking - to act because it expects years of delays in federal officials' review of whether to grant the frog federal endangered species status.

"Without federal action, this frog needs protection under the California Endangered Species Act," Jeff Miller, a Center for Biological Diversity spokesman, said in a statement.

The California Department of Fish and Game has already taken a number of actions to protect the mountain yellow-legged frog, including a temporary ban since 2008 on stocking lakes in locations such as the Emigrant Wilderness between Highway 108 and Yosemite National Park.

Anglers and the businesses they patronize in the area have protested that change.

Jordan Traverso, deputy director of communications for the California Department of Fish and Game, said that listing the frog as endangered would add additional protections, for example requiring property owners who plan construction that destroys frog habitat to get special permits.

Many mountain yellow-legged frog populations, perhaps most, are on national forest and national park lands where the state government's role has been limited to stocking trout.

That means a state listing for the frog would not make much difference in the management of Emigrant Wilderness lakes, for example, said Crispin Holland, a biologist for the Stanislaus National Forest.

"Anything that has frogs in it, they are not stocking already," Holland said.

State and federal game authorities already track the frog and have taken some steps to protect it.

Traverso said state officials have already eradicated trout in lakes to help the recovery of frog populations.

And Holland said federal authorities have also discussed such a measure in some small lakes.

"You could gill net them and clean them out. We've considered that," Holland said.

Traverso said the state Game Commission now has 90 days to decide if the Center for Biological Diversity petition is complete.

Once the commission accepts the petition, Department of Fish and Game staff has a year to review the status of the frog and make a recommendation on whether it should be listed as endangered.